Hotel Artemis (2018)

“Hotel Artemis” (2018) was one of those movies that I only saw one trailer for, once, but it was enough to catch my interest and draw me in to watch it.
It’s like if they made a movie entirely about the rich-criminals-only hotel/armory/everything from the “John Wick” series.
The movie is set in 2028 L.A., in a future where we have run out of fresh water globally, and only the wealthy can afford it. 
That’s never the focus of the movie, but it definitely makes for an interesting backdrop.

Jodie Foster played an old lady, Dave Bautista played Andre the Giant, and Jeff Goldblum played Jeff Goldblum.
There’s a very minor criminal Romeo & Juliet subplot, and another one about Foster’s history, both of which were intriguing to watch unfold and neither felt shoehorned in.

Director Drew Pearce did an excellent job of telling the story with a quick pace, but revealed details of the world as a slow tease.
I don’t think there was a whole lot of advertising for this film, and unfortunately the internet has only rated it as “average,” so I don’t think it got the recognition it deserved for the nifty bit of near-future sci-fi that it is.

The entire movie took place inside (or on the roof of) the hotel, which meant there was very limited room to tell the story in, and Pearce used that to his advantage for Foster’s character development.
Though, as you can imagine, a hotel exclusively for criminals doesn’t end up well for anyone.

Oh, and Sophia Boutella was a femme fatale assassin, which is the only role I think I’ve ever seen her in.

I don’t think I’ve ever said this before, but: I actually wish I had seen this in theaters!
This is exactly the kind of movie that would have made me happy to pay for a ticket.
Definite recommendation to view!
(unless you don’t like blood, there’s a lot of that)